Heh. “Other Than That, Mrs. Lincoln… How Did You Enjoy The Play?”

Erik W. Erickson actually understates it — but directionally, he is on the right track, which is why Mr. Mirengoff quotes him, at length, overnight:

…Last night was a Rorschach test for how you see the Republican Party, and that, in and of itself, is the problem. It’s either all Trump or not all Trump and the reality and truth is that Trump and the MAGA brand work very well in some parts of the country and work very badly in others. Last night happened to have elections in parts of the country where it works very badly….

Between abortion and Trump, Democrats turned out. Republicans found the 15-week compromise sweet spot that polled well with the general electorate, but it triggered Democrat passions….

The hilarious irony is that Donald Trump, on the ballot, can probably motivate more people to turn out than a candidate running wrapped in Trump’s banner. But Trump also alienates suburban voters and drives up Democrat intensity….

The reality is that the GOP as a national party is dead. It is now a conglomeration of several regional parties. In parts of the country, Republicans must run wrapped in the MAGA label as Donald Trump candidates. In other parts of the country, they must run as far from Trump as possible. That renders the GOP a regional party of divergent views that must then assemble a coalition of disparate and often incompatible values….

Exactly. But I might amplify/counter, thus: it is not even a regional “party” any longer.
No, it is a band of reckless, divisive houligans in these pro-Tangerine districts. And that makes it an anti-brand, in any other district — any one that still (among its majority voters) honors-, and believes-in-, the rule of law.

RIP, GOP.